Hepatitis C Patients Taxing Medical System
Posted on: Friday, 30 December 2005, 15:00 CST
FRIDAY, Dec. 30 (HealthDay News) -- The use of health-care resources by hepatitis C patients in the United States has been increasing by 25 percent to 30 percent a year, says a Duke University study in the December issue of Hepatology.
About 3 million people in the United States have chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV), and many of them contracted it in the 1970s, before testing and safe needle-sharing practices became widespread. Health experts have been predicting an increasing impact on the health system as these people grow older.
The Duke researchers analyzed HCV patient hospitalization trends from 1994 to 2001, HCV-related doctors' visits from 1996 to 2002, and prescription drug data for HCV patients from 1998 to 2000.
The study found that HCV-related hospitalizations, hospital days, total charges and deaths increased by more than 20 percent per year. That's three times higher than all-cause hospitalizations. The largest increases were seen in patients in their 40s and 50s, who spent more time in a hospital, incurred greater costs, and died more often than HCV patients in other age groups.
The study also found that doctor office visits by HCV patients increased by 36 percent a year, and spending on HCV drug therapy rose from $78 per $100,000 of new prescriptions in 1998 to $259 per $100,000 in 2000.
"The study documents accelerating use of health-care resources by patients with HCV, indicating that the future burden of HCV infection will match and may exceed analysts' forecasts," the study authors wrote.
More information
The American Academy of Family Physicians has more about hepatitis C.
SOURCE: John Wiley & Sons Inc., news release, December 2005~HEPA~~LIVR~~COST~
Source: HealthSCOUT
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